Bull elk sculpture sparks new bronze partnership on Sherman Avenue

Tony Mills stood Thursday in his Sherman Avenue gallery beside a new bronze sculpture by Mark Russo after a bull elk sculpture in the front window drew in a customer and sparked an unexpected partnership. The timing gave downtown Coeur d'Alene a fresh art-business story just as the city headed into Art on the Green and Street Fair weekend.

What started as a passing glance turned into new inventory for Mills' downtown space. The sculpture that caught the eye of the customer did more than decorate the window, it created a direct link to another artist and brought bronze work into the gallery at one of the busiest points on the summer calendar.

Mills said the partnership has moved quickly. "It's been pretty amazing," he said Thursday.

For shoppers and visiting collectors moving through Sherman Avenue, the change means a new display of bronze sculpture in a storefront that is already working as a sales tool. In a downtown corridor where foot traffic can drive whether a small creative business gets noticed, the front window did exactly what retailers hope for, it stopped people long enough to start a conversation and, in this case, lead to a collaboration.

The new bronze piece also deepens the gallery's place in Coeur d'Alene's art district. Earlier this year, Mills, a North Idaho native, had recently opened the Sherman Avenue gallery with large wildlife images of wolves, grizzlies, elk and eagles on the walls. That earlier focus on regional wildlife carried over naturally into the bronze display, keeping the gallery rooted in Northwest imagery while adding a more collectible medium.

The late-July timing matters because Art on the Green and the Street Fair draw some of the largest crowds downtown each year. With those visitors already looking for art, gifts and home pieces, a window sculpture that turns into a new partnership can translate into immediate sales momentum for a gallery on one of the city's best-known blocks.